Commuting

Suzy Allman for The New York Times

News about Commuting, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Mar. 1, 2015

Seattle is set to embark on experiment in which it charges users of its transit system different ticket prices based on their individual income; program is liberal political establishment's response to growing income inequality in region amid tech boom, preventing some area residents from being able to afford to commute into city for jobs. MORE

Feb. 5, 2015

Some Metro-North commuters express second thoughts about sitting in first car of train following lethal crash near Valhalla, NY. MORE

Feb. 3, 2015

Photos of commuters trying to board buses outside the Queensboro Plaza station in Queens after service on the No 7 subway line was disrupted because of icy conditions. MORE

Dec. 30, 2014

Steam ferry service from Brooklyn to Manhattan began in 1814, giving rise to America's first commuters. MORE

Dec. 2, 2014

MetroCard glitch disrupts travel for nearly 10,000 Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North commuters when coding error in December monthly passes renders them worthless; authority tells affected commuters they must buy new monthly MetroCard on their own and await adjustment of their December charges. MORE

Oct. 2, 2014

Amtrak officials say that they will have to sharply curtail use of rail tunnels leading to New York City for at least a year to repair damage caused by Hurricane Sandy, move that will affect train service for tens of thousands of commuters who ride Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit trains. MORE

Aug. 17, 2014

Bolivia's mass-transit aerial cable car system has the potential to transform La Paz, the capital, and neighboring El Alto, connecting distant neighborhoods to the city center, raising real estate values, slashing commute times and altering social relations; ride will cost about twice as much as minibuses, but some commuters say convenience is worth it. MORE

Jul. 17, 2014

Riders on the Long Island Rail Road are weighing onerous contingency plans as strike deadline nears; broken ticket machines, unforgiving conductors and rising fares seem like minor inconveniences compared to hours-long car or bus commutes on traffic-plagued Long Island Expressway in the event of a strike. MORE

Jun. 5, 2014

Start-up tech firm Bridj launches 'pop up' bus service in Boston that uses algorithms to make routes 'smarter'; service, which collects millions of bits of data about people's commutes, is brainchild of entrepreneur Matthew George; Bridj enters Boston market at a tumultuous time for transit services, where a proliferation of options in the city has intensified competition for rider dollars. MORE

May. 25, 2014

New Yorkers who commute via bicycle have the option to search for apartments beyond the bounds of the city's subway map. MORE

Apr. 26, 2014

Citizens Budget Commission recommends that Port Authority of New York and New Jersey turn PATH commuter rail system over to New Jersey’s state-run transit agency to free up money for large infrastructure projects; says burden of large and rising deficits rung up by PATH system could be lifted by reducing authority's subsidy, shifting some of the cost burden onto taxpayers in New Jersey and New York City and raising fares significantly. MORE

Apr. 18, 2014

Platform, new series at New York Transit Museum, invites artist-commuters to perform work inspired by their experiences on city’s subways and buses. MORE

Apr. 14, 2014

Planned two-year shutdown of northbound lanes of Pulaski Skyway faces first major test as thousands of drivers in New Jersey turn to alternative routes or public transportation for travel between Newark and Jersey City; shutdown will disrupt a key link for commuters who use bridge to reach New York City through the Holland Tunnel. MORE

Mar. 27, 2014

Metro-North's new president Joseph J Giulietti, along with other top officials, spends two hours at Grand Central Terminal to discuss safety concerns, long waits, and other train issues with commuters. MORE

Mar. 10, 2014

American Public Transportation Association reports that more Americans used buses, trains and subways in 2013 than in any year since 1956; increase came as service improved, growth of local economies increased the number of jobs and commuters, and travelers increasingly sought alternatives to the automobile for trips within metropolitan areas. MORE

Feb. 25, 2014

Michael Shaw, a conductor on Metro-North's New Haven line, surprises commuters with a personal note of apology left on each seat of the Monday 6:52am express to Grand Central Terminal; on the previous Friday, Shaw had mistakenly instructed hundreds of commuters to wait for an express train that had actually been cancelled without his knowledge; Metro-North officials praise Shaw's message if not the method of delivery. MORE

Nov. 8, 2013

Young New Yorkers offer little sympathy for Dante de Blasio's concerns about a longer commute to school should his family move out of their Park Slope, Brooklyn, home and into Gracie Mansion after his father takes office as mayor; Dante would be in company of tens of thousands of New York students whose commutes to class each morning are long slogs between boroughs. MORE

Oct. 28, 2013

The American dependence on cars, resulting in lost hours that could otherwise be spent exercising or socializing, has taken a toll on our health. MORE

Aug. 5, 2013

City of Jakarta, along with Indonesian government and consortiums of private investors, plans to pour $4 billion into public transportation infrastructure projects; Jakarta remains one of the world's few major cities without a rapid-transit system, and city's workforce regularly faces horrific traffic jams and commutes of four hours or more, year round. MORE

Aug. 2, 2013

Hudson County Sheriff Frank X Schillari orders 'massive crackdown' on commuter buses, days after driver Idowu Daramola hit light pole in West New York, NJ, that toppled onto stroller, killing 8-month-old Angelie Paredes; Daramola was charged with death by auto, reckless driving and using a cellphone while operating vehicle; Schillari has ordered deputies to conduct random stops to check for proper insurance and valid driver's license. MORE

Jul. 22, 2013

Manhattan's High Line, with no traffic lights, cars or bikes and few tourists during the morning rush, has attracted New Yorkers who simply want a quick and uninterrupted way to walk to work. MORE

Feb. 3, 2013

Students who attend college close to their home towns are returning home on weekends for familiar comforts of old friends, jobs and home-cooked meals; trend worries some educators, who say trips home may stunt students' independence, growth and campus involvement. MORE

Jan. 27, 2013

Christian Edstrom bicycles 40 miles from his home in Chappaqua, NY, to his job at JP Morgan in downtown Manhattan at least twice a week, even in freezing temperatures, logging approximately 600 miles a month; Edstrom is one of growing number of people who commute into the city by bike from far-flung suburbs in Westchester County, New Jersey and Long Island. MORE

Dec. 29, 2012

Mayor A C Wharton Jr of Memphis, city which had been named one of the worst cities in America for cyclists, opens dozens of miles of bike lanes as part of his plan to change residents' commuting habits. MORE

Dec. 17, 2012

Hoboken, NJ, continues to suffer in aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which crippled the city's PATH station, leaving community cut off from Manhattan; closure has left a pall over the city, doubling commute times and expenses for residents and slowing foot traffic critical to downtown businesses; Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has declined to give date for reopening station, saying only that it could still be weeks away. MORE

Nov. 25, 2012

Lisa Provost Mortgages column describes study published by Center for Housing Policy and the Center for Neighborhood Technology, which found that transportation costs can significantly add to the financial burden of moderate-income homeowners. MORE

Nov. 19, 2012

Commuters from Hoboken, NJ, to New York City are straining to establish new routine in wake of Hurricane Sandy; riders are dealing with lagging restoration of PATH service, overbooked buses, unfamiliar ferries and long lines, along with uncertainty and few answers as to when transportation will return to normal. MORE

Nov. 6, 2012

New Jersey commuters seeking a way into Manhattan are finding that options are few and unappealing; entire PATH train network is still offline Monday, with flooding so severe in tunnels and several stations that officials have declined to offer a definitive timeline for full restoration; New Jersey Transit says it is able to operate only 13 trains into New York during peak hours, about a fifth of its normal network. MORE

Nov. 2, 2012

Many residents of Brooklyn have taken to bicycles to commute over bridges into Manhattan as subway shutdowns continue and lines for buses stretch for blocks in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. MORE

Sep. 12, 2012

New York Waterway's East River Ferry service is in the second year of a three-year contract with New York City, but questions remain about its chances for profitability once $9 million in subsidies expire; number of riders on the seven-stop service is growing, but it is not yet apparent that ferries can become a daily habit for enough people to keep the ferry from losing money. MORE

Jul. 18, 2012

Copenhagen Journal; Denmark, already a cycling nation, is trying to encourage commuting to Copenhagen by bicycle by opening what it calls cycle superhighways. MORE

Jul. 8, 2012

Preoccupations column features Lasker Foundation senior program director David Keegan discussing bicycling eight miles to work in New York City to ensure that he will be outdoors for at least part of the day. MORE

Jul. 5, 2012

Sharing rides for commuting and long-distance trips is becoming easier and more popular in the United States, helped by advances in technology and social networking; some companies are testing apps for car-pooling, which include matching drivers with passengers, security protocols and how payments are calculated and made. MORE

Mar. 12, 2012

Report by the American Public Transportation Association finds that more Americans used public transportation in 2011, an indication that many of them have returned to the workforce; finds that in total, Americans took 10.4 billion rides on public transportation. MORE

Feb. 26, 2012

Restricted-use lanes in several cities, once reserved for car pools and alternative-fuel vehicles, are being transformed into revenue-producing toll lanes for drivers willing to pay for a quicker trip. MORE

Jan. 9, 2012

Editorial urges Congress to restore equality in tax benefits for commuters after expiration of the benefit affecting mass transit riders; argues that new law, which restricts the benefits public transit riders can claim, will encourage more commuters to drive and claim a higher tax break, leading to more traffic congestion and carbon emissions. MORE

Jan. 4, 2012

First workday since tolls on the New Jersey Turnpike jumped 53 percent leaves some commuters experimenting with alternate routes that would save thousands of dollars a year in tolls but would also significantly increase commuting time. MORE

Dec. 10, 2011

Ron Lieber Your Money column observes the pretax commuter benefit has taken different forms over the years, and the 2012 version will benefit car drivers more than bus and train riders; notes that the monthly cap on the public transportation contribution may be cut roughly in half to $125. MORE

February 10, 2015, Tuesday

The train makes life in this bedroom community possible. But the crash on Tuesday that claimed six lives — three with Chappaqua connections — upended the sense of security, in a single, savage instant.